Mandatory Means Optional? Conservatives Rip Into Liberal ‘Safety Valve’ Crime Plan

Justice Committee Grills Liberals on Bill C-16: “Safety Valve” Turns Mandatory Minimums into Suggestions, Critics Warn

OTTAWA—Conservative MPs opened the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights study of Bill C-16 with a strong attack on the government’s handling of mandatory minimum penalties, warning that the bill’s new “safety valve” would render them effectively optional.

In his opening round of questioning, Conservative MP Larry Brock told Min…